Idina spent months taking the courses, buying an apartment, getting all the paperwork in order. Today was the day, the big adoption day. She would choose a kid to foster. Unlike all the other couples, she knew what kid she wanted. Erika Rivera. The name was burnt into her mind.

She went to the park. There were a bunch of activities set up and children running around everywhere. Idina checked in and got her badge. She did not bother walking around or talking to any of the kids. Not that any of them bothered to come up to her. She went straight to the social worker's counter.

"Hi!" her worker said with a friendly smile. "Have you found a kid you like?" Her nametag read Candice.

"Yes," she said. "Erika Rivera."

The woman looked around for a second, to see if Erika was nearby, Idina assumed. When she did not see a kid, she took out her tablet. "One minute," she said as she typed. "Erike Rivera, are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes I'm sure," Idina replied. She could feel her blood pressure rising. She was nervous, and anxious, and every second felt like incompetence.

"I'm not sure where you could have gotten that's names..." the worker started. "I think the kid is playing a trick on you. Could you point her out?"

"Why?" Idina asked.

The worker gave her a confused look. "There's no Erika Rivera in our system."

Idina's ears started to ring. The world was spinning. "What, how is that possible?"

"She was in our system," the woman continued.

"And?"

"And she's not anymore. She ran away a month ago."

Idina felt faint. She must have looked it too, for Candice quickly brought her to a chair and gave her a bottle of water.

"But, I-" Idina stuttered. She couldn't wrap her head around it. She was supposed to be saving Erika. "I was going to adopt her and..." she did not finish the sentence. 

"Let me guess," Candice said with nothing but kindness, "You met her when she was still with the family of the girl who saved your son?"

"Yes," Idina admitted.

"And when you learned she was sent back you wanted to help?"

"Of course."

"And you assumed she would be waiting for you."

"I didn't think she had a choice." A thought crossed Idina's mind. "How did she run away? Aren't you supposed to be protecting them,? Where's the police, the investigation, the nationwide hunt? There's a missing girl."

Candice came down to her level. "I've been working with girls like Erika for most of my life," she said. "When they got to be her age things rarely end well. Erika's special, she has a brain at least, but in the end she one of millions of children without a home. We report it to the police, but we can't do much else. She's sixteen. She doesn't have to be in school. By the time anyone finds her, she would most likely be over eighteen and no longer a runaway. It's a waste of resources."

"How is it a waste of resources?" Idina pulled at her own hair, balling her hands into fists. "How do people let this stand?"

"Thousands of kids run away from homes every day. There isn't enough manpower to search and find every single one of them and keep the world running. Not to mention all the runaways who are never reported. There was an investigation, but nothing came up."

"Then why aren't they still looking?"

"Because at this point, if nothing has come up nothing will. "

"What about the public, I didn't see on the news. This should be all over the news."

"Girls like Erika run away all the time. It's not news," Candice said. "No one cares about a runaway teenager.  It's harsh, but it's the world."

Idina was fuming. "I'll make them care," she muttered. "I have my own platform. I'll put out an Amber Alert since you guys won't."

"We already have, Idina." Candice gave her a hug. "I didn't know you had your heart set on one kid already. I don't know Erika personally, but honestly, I'm not sure it would have been a good fit. There are hundreds of kids here. Someone who will be perfect for you and your family. Don't give up."

"I'm not here for some random kid," Idina said, trying to keep her voice low. "I did this for Erika."

"You don't have to go through with being a foster parent," Candice said. "Most people never make it. And maybe someone else will come along. It's okay."

Idina nodded. But it was not okay. She left without talking to anyone else, then ran quickly back to her apartment before the paparazzi could find her. She spent the next hour drinking all the alcohol she could find, crying. It felt like something had been stolen from her. Like someone had stolen one of her awards, snatching it from the host before it could even be given to her. She would not give up.

She scoured the Amber Alerts until she found one for Erika. She retweeted it. She posted it on Instagram and every other site she could think of. She promised a reward if someone found her unharmed. 

She was going to find Erika and bring her home.